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The Top Dinosaur Discoveries of 2010

From new species to colors, this year’s dinosaur down-low

2010 has been a good year for dinosaurs. Numerous new species have been named, long-awaited conference proceedings have been published, new techniques for studying the past have been devised, and scientists finally allowed us to answer one of the most confounding questions in dinosaur science. There was so much new dinosaur science that it was impossible to cover it all here (in fact, an accepted manuscript describing
a new, giant horned dinosaur from New Mexico called Titanoceratops was just made available while this post was being prepared), but here is a breakdown of the top discoveries discussed here at Dinosaur Tracking over the past 12 months.

Before the Dinosaurs

There is much that remains unknown about
the origin and early evolution of dinosaurs, but several discoveries announced this year have helped to fill in the early history of dinosaurs and their close relatives.
Tracks made by the precursors of dinosaurs - the dinosauromorphs - found in the 249-million-year-old rock of Poland suggest that the ancestors and close relatives of the first dinosaurs originated not long after the great Permian mass extinction 251 million years ago. Creatures of this antiquity can be tricky to identify.
Azendohsaurus, once thought to be an early dinosaur, was reclassified this year as being only a distant cousin, and the newly-described creature
Asilisaurus was somewhat dinosaur-like but not a dinosaur itself.

Funky Theropods

Multiple theropod dinosaurs were described this year, but two exceptional species stand out. One,
the carcharodontosaurid Concavenator, had a short sail on its back and may have had tubular bristles growing out of its forearms. The other,
the raptor Balaur, had only two fingers on each hand and a double set of hyperextendable sickle claws on each foot. (And, while not as anatomically strange, the first specimens of
Linheraptor described this year were absolutely gorgeous.)

The long-necked, large-bodied sauropods are among the most iconic of the dinosaurs, but new discoveries are rapidly changing our understanding of their origin and evolutionary history.
The discovery of the sauropodomorph Sarahsaurus from Arizona has helped identify an evolutionary pattern in which these dinosaurs migrated into North America multiple times during the Early Jurassic rather than just being part of a single move northward. Another sauropodomorph described this year,
Seitaad, provided further evidence for this hypothesis.

Even well-known sites and old collections are yielding new discoveries. A juvenile
Diplodocus skull collected decades ago has helped show how
the diets of these dinosaurs changed as they aged. This specimen came from Dinosaur National Monument, and a geologically younger, Early Cretaceous site from the national park also yielded the skulls of a previously-unknown sauropod called
Abydosaurus.

Dinosaur Colors

The biggest announcement of the year was that scientists have finally found a way to detect the colors of some dinosaurs. The technique has only been applied to feathered dinosaurs, but by comparing microscopic structures in preserved dinosaur feathers to their counterparts in modern birds, paleontologists have finally been able to fill out parts of the dinosaur palette.
The first study, published in
Nature, looked at just part of the tail plumage of
Sinosauropteryx, while the second study (published the following week in
Science by the team that had pioneered the techniques being utilized) reconstructed the entire feather colors of
Anchiornis. These were just initial reports in what is sure to become a very active area of research. At long last, scientists will be able to provide answers about what has traditionally thought to be a question incapable of resolution.

Those are just a few selection from stories we covered here during 2010. What were your favorite dinosaur stories from the past year?

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